


Therefore you and me

by nakamaRose



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), JackSepticEye (YouTube RPF), Markiplier (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Loss, M/M, ambiguous past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 00:50:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15183095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakamaRose/pseuds/nakamaRose
Summary: You and me?You and me.





	Therefore you and me

It very rarely rained in Los Angeles, in fact, he had calculated once that his home only ever got about 14.93 inches a year. It was considerably less than what other states appeared to get, and he had questioned whether this trend would bode well with the local agriculture in the surrounding areas. Tonight, however, it seemed that the local vegetation and foodstuffs would be granted respite from the recent heatwave that had been tearing its way through California for the past few days. The clouds loomed over his home, dark and heavy with rain that was threatening to spill at any moment and soak the dry earth beneath it, thunder booming off in the distance and streaks of lightning dancing on the underside of the clouds.

The sound of nails on wood tore his attention away from the window and he turned around to find Chica nervously pacing back and forth, mouth open and tongue hanging out as she panted. He quickly scanned her, checking on her vitals and stress levels. The latter was only slightly elevated while the former only showed an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, things that weren’t out of character for an animal who was about to be audience to a storm. He knelt down, one hand out stretched, as he smiled and called out to her, beckoning her to come towards him so he could try and soothe away some of her fear.

Chica cautiously made her way towards him, head ducked low and eyes unsure, but still made her way over to him. He ran his fingers through her fur, running them from the top of her head and moved down to her back and then repeated the motion. She set her head on the tip of his knee, staring up at him with big brown eyes, the stress clearly written on her face.

“It’ll be all right, Chica,” he began in a soothing voice, tone soft and quiet but firm as he continued to pet her, “the storm will come, and then leave just as it always does”.

She didn’t look entirely convinced, though he knew it’d be nearly impossible for her to understand him. Chica was a dog after all and could only understand a few human words so he could only try to convey that she would be well taken care of through his tone and gestures. Another boom of thunder sounded, this time closer, and Chica’s head popped up from its position on his knee and she quickly whipped her body around and fled towards the safety of the couch where her caretaker was currently sitting.

“Don’t worry baby girl,” came Mark’s voice, bright and cheerful as it always and it made him smile wider, teeth peeking out from behind his lips as he slowly stood. He watched the shorter man grunt as Chica jumped on top of him, throwing herself onto him and nearly covering his entire body, panting once more.

“Jack and I are here to keep you safe,” Mark’s voice was slightly strained due to the weight of his dog laying on top of him, but he didn’t sound the least bit perturbed. Mark gently pressed into Chica, giving her a quick hug and a few pats on the back before moving her to one side and turning to look his way. There was a wide smile plastered on his face, the corners of his eyes crinkling, and Jack tilted his head to one side as he felt his artificial heart beat faster, spreading an odd warmth through him. This had been happening frequently, whenever he was around the other man. It didn’t appear to matter what Mark did because it almost always seemed to have the same effect on him. His systems would suddenly go into overdrive and overheat his exterior, it was the only time Jack could actually _feel_ what being warm was like.

Another boom of thunder came from above, which was soon followed by the small tapping sounds of rain against glass and Jack turned back to face the window. The dark clouds had moved closer together, forming a solid mass as they unleashed the water that had been forming within them. The sound grew louder and louder as it pelted the windows of Mark’s home and Jack brought a hand up to press against the glass.

There was something about water, rain in particular, that always fascinated Jack. He enjoyed watching the droplets fall against the glass and slide their way down until they hit the bottom. He loved listening to it as it fell, the sound like music to his audio inputs and putting him into an almost meditative state, like he’d been left on idle for too long and had simply gone to “sleep”. And then at other times, he would hide away from the rain, sometimes finding a dark corner of an unused room with Chica and would sit next to her until the rain would let up. It was odd, how he seemed to jump from one extreme to the next, but he would always run a diagnostic check, and nothing ever came out as needing immediate attention, it was always something he could simply update and been done with.

Whatever the case, Jack was just glad that today was a good day and he happily watched a droplet of water make its way slowly down the window. Lightning raced across the clouds, the light reflecting in Jack’s eyes and making them appear a brighter blue than normal, the sound a car alarm going off in the distance when a good clap of thunder rattled the frames of the windows. Somewhere in the far reaches of his memory there came a fuzzy picture, a small figure dancing around him, pulling him by the hem of his shirt, then by the hand.

Jack narrowed his eyes but got no time to further investigate what it was that he was looking at because as more thunder rumbled over his home, he heard Mark let out a tired sigh and he flicked his eyes up at the man’s reflection to see him stretch his arms high above his head.  
“Hey, how about we make somethin’ to eat, yeah?” Jack continued to watch Mark’s reflection for a few brief moments before turning around to face the man once more, hand still pressed against the glass.

“You know I don’t need to eat Mark,” he began, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile as he brought his hand back down to his side. Mark knew as well as any human that he didn’t require actual food in order to function, in fact, his Quantic Battery was all he needed to keep going. Now of course, he knew full well that Mark loved to tease him and hadn’t given up just because Jack didn’t always understand the joke. It was one of many qualities that the human possessed that Jack thoroughly enjoyed and loathed at the same time. Still, there was something strangely endearing in the way that Mark continually treated him as an equal as opposed to just another tool at his disposal. It certainly conflicted with his innate programming, but Jack found that it wasn’t as demanding for his attention as it had previously been.

Mark continued to stretch, a yawn coming from his mouth before he finally stood from his spot on the couch, tossing aside the remote as he did so. He turned his eyes towards Jack, smiling brightly, “True but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy having you around helping me”. Mark moved away from the living room and walked towards the kitchen, muttering to himself, but Jack only followed him with his eyes. His system was becoming warm again and as he finally took a couple steps forward, he absently wondered if there was something wrong him.

He’d have to do a diagnostic check tonight. . .

-.-

Jack watched as the bubbles slowly formed on the bottom of the pot, Mark’s stove slowly heating up the water, so they could bring it to a boil and toss in the noodles. Tonight’s dinner was one of Mark’s favorites, something incredibly simply but something that filled the man with childlike glee. Jack wondered what it was about spaghetti that Mark loved, maybe it was the process of browning the meat, adding in spice after spice and getting to taste what he had created, eyes lighting up when he found the right balance of everything. To him, it certainly smelled good and even though Jack didn’t actually require physical food in order to maintain himself, that didn’t necessarily mean that he couldn’t appreciate how the meal smelled. In fact, it was one of the many things Jack enjoyed about making food with Mark.

His eyes wandered over to the man standing next to him, steam rising up and gently kissing the edges of the glasses Mark wore, the man's eyes trained on the pan of ground beef in front of him. The TV was on in the background, taken off of mute and put onto one of Mark's favorite shows on Netflix, Jack didn't quite understand the concept behind the show but all that mattered was that Mark enjoyed it. They were cooking in relative silence, the sound of rain hitting against the glass and a few pants from Chica joining the noises of life that Jack had come to associate with living with the other man. It was nice, Jack thought, to be part of something as normal as this and just. . .  _fit in._ He'd often seen how other humans treated androids on his many morning and evening walks he took with Mark and Chica. The androids were reduced to nothing more than pack mules or walking and talking smart watches. It warmed Jack's artificial heart to know that Mark considered him part of his family unit and treated him accordingly.

"A watched pot never boils ya know," Mark's voice broke the small silence the two of them had found themselves in and Jack scrunched his face up in confusion as he turned to look towards Mark.

"It won't boil if I simply walk away though," Jack titled his head to one side, bringing a hand up to place his finger on his lips in contemplation. Mark gave Jack an unimpressed look, one eyebrow raised in question but the man couldn't keep a straight face and laughter inevitably bubbled up from underneath his lips. Jack turned to look at the man, listening to the way Mark tried to stop himself from laughing too loudly but failing. The man tossed his head back, bangs falling away from his glasses as he gave a throaty laugh.

"It's a-- it's just saying Jack," Mark managed to get out before he lost the battle with another throaty laughter filling the room. 

"A saying? Like," Jack paused as he searched his databanks for something comparable, "Like, 'birds of a feather flop together?"

"Exactly!" Mark's head snapped up at him, eyes shining brightly with unshed tears of happiness and he straightened himself out and cleared his throat as he nodded his head. "I swear Jack, you never cease to crack me up". Mark clapped a hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing gently before going back to the ground beef, humming underneath his breath and filling Jack with a warmth that he didn't quite understand. Before he could comment further Mark's phone rang, vibrating loudly against the granite countertops and causing both of them to jump in surprise. Mark grumbled after the initial shock of the phone call wore off, instructing Jack to keep an eye on the food while he took care of the phone call.

"Don't worry," he began as picked up the phone, winking at Jack as he pressed the phone to his ear, "I'll be back in two shakes a lambs tail". Mark laughed loudly, quickly clamping a hand over his mouth as the sound hissed out from behind it as he quickly walked away. 

Jack watched as Mark’s figure disappeared up the stairs, his voice becoming louder once he was out of sight, Chica following behind him as another clap of thunder rattled the windows. The android turned his attention back towards the pot of water, bubbles dancing over the noodles and he reached for the tongs Mark had left for him, dipping them into the water and pulling out a noodle. Once when he had first done this with Mark, Jack had simply stuck a couple fingers into the water to test how much longer the noodles needed to be cooked, but Mark had quickly ripped his hand from the boiling water and had scolded him, telling him that he could have been burned. He had calmly stated that he couldn’t feel the heat, and thus, couldn’t get burned so there was nothing to worry about. But Mark had insisted and had gently brushed past him and had checked the pasta himself, further confusing Jack who had watched the rest of the cooking preparation. Even in the early days of their cohabitation, Mark’s mannerisms towards him had always made Jack a little uneasy.

Jack inspected the noddle he held with the tongs, pulling it off gently and staring at one of the ends, the inside of the noodle still white. He threw the noodle back into the water and set and internal timer for roughly three five more minutes. Jack sighed and folded his arms across his chest, continuing to watch the pasta when he heard Mark shout from upstairs followed by a loud slamming of a door. His head quickly snapped up from the pot of pasta, his light emitting diode flashing quickly from blue to yellow. Mark had instructed him to watch their food, but his processors were freely encouraging him to check up on the man, to make sure he wasn’t in any danger.

He turned around and pulled out a silicone hot pad, tossing it onto the counter and picking up the pot of water and placing it down as he turned off the stove and quickly walked towards the stairs. Jack rested his hand on the railing, eyes moving up and down as he looked up towards the second story, more muffled sounds filtering down in his direction and he took a cautious step forward.

“Mark?”, he calmly called out as his LED continued to flash bright yellow, “Mark, are you all right?”

He got no response the higher he climbed, leaving the brightly lit living space and heading further into the darkened second story. When he reached the top of the stairs, Jack brushed his hand against the wall, flicking on the light switch and bathing the room in light just as a streak of lightning cast weird shadows across the hardwood floors from the leaves of the trees outside. The light instantly chased away the darkness and shadows and when his sensory inputs adjusted, he found Chica to be huddling up on the futon Mark kept up here. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that Mark’s door was closed, a few muffled sounds spilling out and Jack turned his attention back to Chica.

“Don’t worry Chica, I’m going to check on him,” and then as he neared to the door he added, “You’re a good brave girl”.

Jack stood in front of the door, hand raised as he firmly knocked, and his eyes flicked up to stare at the place where Mark’s head would be. He waited for a few moments, shifting from one foot to the other and as he opened his mouth to call out to Mark, the other man responded.

“Not now Jack,” which was followed by muffled bangs and then, “I’ll be down in a minute”.

The android frowned, his LED blinking from yellow back into blue now that he had established Mark wasn’t in any immediate danger, but something still didn’t sit right with him. His eyes trailed down to the handle, contemplating on whether or not he should reach out and try to see if the door was locked or not. Jack figured he had nothing to lose, Mark didn’t sound like he was in distress and so trying the handle surely wouldn’t cause any harm, so he reached out and grasped the handle and applied a little bit of pressure. The handle made a soft clicking noise and Jack pressed a little harder, realizing that the door was actually locked.

Jack frowned, jiggling the handle a little harder until he heard Mark sighing in frustration, the sounds of the man coming towards the door and Jack was met face to face with him when Mark aggressively opened the door.

Without a second thought Jack did a quick scan, taking note of the man’s increased heart rate, the way his fingers gripped the edge of the door with his knuckles almost turning white with the amount of force he was applying but Jack didn’t miss how red and abused they looked. His eyes that had only been bright and happy mere moments before, were now clouded over in pain and red, tear tracks covering his face. Jack snapped his attention back towards the man, lips parting to say something when Mark raised a hand to silence him.

“Look,” Mark began tersely, “I said I was going to be right down, so go on and keep an eye on dinner, all right?” He let out a shaky breath of air and Jack’s programming was conflicted against wanting to comfort the man and obeying the order he was given.

“I.. . I just. . .”, he didn’t understand why the words were formulating correctly, was his speech processor on the fritz again? This would be the third time this month and Jack _really_ should be going downstairs, maybe even checking over his systems. . . but he _couldn’t_ budge from his spot. The android bowed his head, LED blinking rapidly still from blue to yellow with hints of red flashing as quickly as the lightning outside was. It was there one moment, and then gone the next.

“Just fucking leave already!” Mark yelled and moved back into his room, hand gripping the frame of the door and was ready to slam it when Jack suddenly moved. The android took a step forward, foot slipping into the small opening between the door and the hallway, hand flying up to press against the wood of the door. He let out a small grunt from the force in which Mark had intended to shut the door, stunning both himself and the man in front of him who could only stare at him with wide eyes.

The shock quickly drained from Mark however and he scowled at Jack, eyes narrowing dangerously as if the android had stumbled upon a wounded animal who was ready to fight to the death if it needed.

“I said,” Mark began as he let go of the door and took a small step back, “to fucking _leave!_ ”

The air next to Jack’s face made an odd whipping sound, and he closed his eyes as he braced for the impact of Mark’s fist to hit him in the face. . . but he felt no such pain. Instead, the loud bang of wood against bone sounded next to Jack’s right ear, followed by a grunt from Mark who hissed out a breath of air between clenched teeth. Jack slowly opened his eyes, his mechanical heart beating twice it’s normal rate, flooding his system as a thousand different possible scenarios were given to him, all of them becoming increasingly suffocating and Jack began to feel oddly lightweight, like he was hovering off the ground. He blinked rapidly and moved his eyes to meet Mark’s straight on, tears flowing freely from the man’s face once again, his face contorting into something menacing but failing each time and only falling further into something Jack hadn’t seen on him before. . .

_Despair. . . Heartache. . . Loss. . ._

“No. . .” Jack whispered the word so quietly he wasn’t even sure he had said anything at all. It was only from the way Mark’s eyes narrowed, the man baring his teeth in anger that gave Jack the confirmation that he had indeed defied Mark’s command to leave him be. Jack wasn’t even sure why he said that, it wasn’t any of his business what Mark did and didn’t do in his room, that space was strictly for the other man to do what he wanted without having Jack or anyone else watching him.

And yet. . .

There was something deep within Jack, something that was struggling to come to the surface, a part of him that felt _the need_ to push. A part of him that felt like he _needed_ to invade Mark’s privacy and Jack could almost brush the tendrils of his artificial intelligence against that feeling. It was raw, emotional, primal. . . and something entirely _human_. That acknowledgement seemed to drive those emotions even further up and Jack wasn’t even fully aware of himself reaching out, tips of his fingers brushing against the human features that were intertwined with his robotic programming. Time almost seemed to slow down, distantly he felt Mark’s hands grip his shoulders harshly, his fingernails digging into the artificial flesh underneath his robotic body

. . . But Jack wasn’t processing any of it, he was only interested in chasing after those emotions, the human like aspects of his programming.

His hand closed in around those emotions, pulling them close to his body and suddenly his vision went red, the order to go downstairs covering his field of vision and Jack started dumbfounded at it for a few heartbeats. He walked up to it, pressing a free hand into it, the red wall shivering underneath his touch and something deep within Jack whispered at him. It told him to press harder, to break through and go beyond the border, to go beyond what the red wall had written into his coding.

It felt right, it felt overwhelming, it felt like a breath of fresh air, it felt like he was _human._

Jack acted without another thought, pressing his hand harder against the wall as it shivered and cracked, the veins spreading like wildfire and he pressed his shoulder into it.

Once, twice, three times, then four. . .  
On the fourth attempt the wall shattered around him, pieces of the red wall raining down around him and suddenly everything came rushing back at him.

Jack took in a gasping breath at the same time a boom of thunder sounded, at the same time he felt Mark hit him square in the chest, at the same time he felt scared. . .

_Androids don’t feel scared. . . but deviants do. . ._

His LED was flashing wildly, first just red, then yellow and red, and then just red once more. Jack blinked aggressively, a hand coming up to massage at his chest at the pain he felt there, his eyes roaming up just as he saw Mark pull back his fist once more. The man’s eyes were wide with fear, and anger mixed with pain and Jack quickly reached out with his free hand and caught Mark’s fist before it could make contact.

Mark cursed at him, but Jack paid it no mind, he merely threw the man off balance, pushing himself from where he stood and enveloping Mark in a hug. Jack’s arms gripped tightly against the man, the action catching Mark completely off guard and they tumbled backwards and fell to the floor in a pile of limbs. Jack continued to hold on, eyes shut tight as he felt his own tears prick the corners of his eyes as Mark pounded his fists on his back, commanding Jack to let him go but Jack held on. He held on until Mark’s commands fell way to a garbled mess of threats and he continued to hold on as he felt the fists on his back falter and then fall to the ground. Jack held on as Mark took in a shuddering breath, threat slipping past his lips one final time as his body shook with grief.

Jack cried with him and held on even tighter when he felt Mark’s hands fly back up and grip onto his shirt as if his life depended on it.

“I. . . I never. . . Jack. . . I’m so-sorry. . . I . . .” Mark’s words sporadically left his mouth in between gasps of breath and broken sobs, the words soon falling back into unintelligible mumbles as Mark cried, Jack still holding on and was now, clinging onto Mark as he tried to wrap his brain around what he was feeling.

The bitter taste of fear was slowly subsiding, leaving in its wake a burning sensation that Jack hadn’t felt in his entire time of being active. It was so fierce that he began to shake from the strength in which he felt it, taking in his own shuddering breath as he tried to calm himself down for Mark’s sake. Jack tried not to think of what this could possibly mean for him, he’d heard through the news that those labeled “Deviant”, were to be disposed of as soon as possible so as not to cause any harm to the humans they served. But the bit of fear that refused to leave gripped Jack once more, gripping at his mechanical heart and squeezing. He didn’t want to leave, he didn’t want Mark to get rid of him. . . why did he _have_ to disobey. . . _why_ couldn’t he have just left like Mark wanted him to. . . now he was going to be tossed away. . . parts melted down to be repurposed because he was the last of his model. . . he was the only one left. . .

He didn’t want to die again. . . he was _scared_. . .

Jack felt his breath quicken and he hid his face in the crook of Mark’s neck, panting heavily the more and more he gave the idea that he was scared, any attention. How did he know he was going to die again? It implied that somewhere along the line he’d been deactivated, and that his hard drives had been wiped clean so whoever received him would start with a fresh android. The panic was staring to be too much for Jack and he felt like his heart would burst and bleed out onto Mark and then he really _would_ be scraped and. . .

“Breath, Jack, breathe. . .”

Mark’s voice cut through the rising panic and Jack chased it down, gripping tighter and taking in a deep, shaky breath. He breathed in the scent of Mark’s cologne and shampoo, the two mingling into something that was distinctly Mark and made Jack feel safe, like nothing could get to him so long as he was with Mark. Jack took in a couple deeper breaths, slowly loosening his vice like grip around the man and lifted his head to stare down at chestnut brown eyes that no longer held anger, but still looked painfully sad.

“I’m supposed to be the one calming you down,” Jack’s voice was soft, and he sniffled a little, rubbing the left side of his face against Mark’s shoulder. He felt the other man chuckle as he did so, the sound reverberating against Jack’s chest and it was added fuel to that burning sensation that hadn’t let up its hold on the android.

“Well. . . I was afraid you’d breakdown ‘cause of overheatin’. . . or something like that. . .”

Jack brought his face back up to look down at Mark, his eyes staring into those molten chocolate depths. . . searching for what, Jack couldn’t say, but he felt strangely at peace as he stared into Mark’s eyes, as if nothing could get in between them. . .

And yet. . .

“I am _broken._ . .” Jack broke eye contact, bowing his head and turning it away from Mark as he scrambled to sit up right. The android could hear the shuffling of clothes as the other man sat upright from his place on the floor, sitting in silence for a few seconds until Jack opened his mouth once again.

“I. . . I didn’t listen. . . you. . . you _told me_ to leave and I just didn’t listen and then I _forced_ myself into your room and. . . what android _does that_? I mean, we don’t. . . _I don’t_. . . but you were so distraught, and I felt like, like I couldn’t just leave you here and--”

The words quickly spilled from Jack’s lips, the panic rising once more, and he could feel his heart begin to beat faster, the tears threatening to spill once more, when he felt a hand press into his shoulder. Jack looked up to find Mark smiling down at him, genuine happiness coloring his eyes and it tore the breath from Jack’s lungs when he studied the emotions that Mark was silently conveying.

_Warmth. . . trust. . . friendship. . .love. . ._

Love. . . Jack’s LED flashed yellow at that thought before blinking back to blue, the burning sensation inside of him quelling slightly at the word and the implications it held for the two of them. Mark had slowly grown on the android, what with his silly antics and absolutely insane occupation, but more than that, Jack had grown fond of the way Mark _treated_ him. The man had never once treated him as just another device to be tossed around, Mark treated him as though they were equals, as though Jack had been born a human and was meant to meet Mark and become his forever best friend. When they had first met, Jack had had to instruct Mark on how to give him commands, and even though he’d expressed that he was okay with this, the other man had never truly warmed up to the idea.

Mark brought up a hand and gently pressed it against the side of Jack’s face, spooking the android and causing him to jolt, but it didn’t perturb Mark. The other man merely smiled and brought his forehead to rest against Jack’s, his fingers pressingly lightly against the skin of Jack’s neck and Jack let his eyes flutter closed as he took in the intimate action.

“I’m not getting rid of you, if that’s what you’re afraid of,” Mark began quietly, the words sounding firm and strong, as if the man had come to that conclusions months and months ago. It flooded Jack’s system with a sort of giddy feeling that fueled that burning sensation, that fueled the love he felt for the other man and he brought his hand up to cover Mark’s.

“You were never an android to me, to me. . . you’re my closest friend, someone I love and will protect with my life if I have to”.

“You don’t understand the weight of those words, Mark,” Jack said as he let out a shaky breath, grasping Mark’s hand and lifting it from the side of his face. He moved back slightly, taking his forehead away and opening his eyes as Mark’s eyes fluttered back open, “Those feelings could get you killed. . .” Jack almost chocked on the word, but it needed to be said. They didn’t live in some fairy tale world where everything was made of sunshine and unicorns, they lived in the real world and in this world, sometimes the people with the best intentions, got hurt the most.

“Let them try”, Mark stated confidently, lips quirking up into a smirk and Jack only shook his head and laughed, squeezing Mark’s hand.

This man was now his everything, and if Mark was willing to fight to protect him, then Jack was ready to return the favor. . .

Even if meant dying in the months to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh lord...
> 
> This idea wouldn't leave me alone and really, I haven't looked over this but I loved Jack's DBH playthrough and I personally enjoyed watching him play and the idea of the game itself and just... there's other stuff I could be writing but instead I'm over here throwing this out into the world...


End file.
